In certain settings, it is necessary to be able to initiate a request for assistance that is automatically distributed to an appropriate individual. Systems are in use that receive event messages from one or more event generation devices, process the event message to identify which of one or more individuals should receive a message alerting them to the event occurrence, and to transmit an alert message to the identified individual(s). These systems are typically referred to as Event Notification Systems (ENS) and they can be useful in healthcare settings, emergency management settings, retail or commercial settings, and in many other settings. For the purposes of this description, an ENS will be described in the context of a healthcare setting.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a healthcare network 100 that includes an Event Generation Device (EGD) 110, an Event Notification System 120 (ENS), and an Alert Message Recipient (AMR) 130. The EGD 110 can be in communication via a wired or wireless network link with the ENS 120, and the ENS 120 can be in communication with the AMR 130 over a wired or wireless link. In a hospital setting the AMR can be any member of a hospital staff, such as a doctor or a nurse. In a hospital setting, the EGD 110 can be, among other things, a piece of equipment such as a heart or respiration monitor, it can be a communication device located in an emergency room or intensive care unit operated by staff for the purpose of requesting supplies or other staff, or it can be a nurse station. Each EGD 110 can transmit event messages that comprise the identity of the originating device, the time the message is transmitted and information particular to the purpose of the alert message, such as a request for supplies, a request for a staff member, or an indication that a particular patient's heart has stopped all of which collectively can be referred to as an event identity. The ENS 120 generally operates to, among other things, receive event messages, examine their contents and determine to which recipient or recipients an alert message comprising information in the event message should be forwarded. In a healthcare and other settings, it is often important to identify and alert the staff member or members closest to the origin of an event of the event occurrence. FIG. 2 is a diagram of a healthcare system 200 having functionality that operates to identify and to track the locations of mobile objects for the purpose of identifying and notifying the closest staff member to an event of the events occurrence.
The healthcare system 200 of FIG. 2 can in implemented in one or more servers (not shown) which are connected to a network (local or wide-area network) and be configured to include all of the same functionality as the healthcare system 100 described earlier with reference to FIG. 1, with the exception that it also comprises a real-time location (RTL) system 210 having a plurality of wireless RTLS tags 230 and a plurality of tag detection devices 220 that operate to receive information relating to any one of the plurality of the RTL system tags 230. The tag detectors 220 can transmit information received from a tag over a network link to the RTL system 210. The tag location detection device 220, or simply detector 220, can be strategically positioned to detect the presence of a tag 230 within range of the detector in some or all of a plurality of specified facility locations. These locations can correspond to particular buildings, floors, hallways, rooms or other specified locations in a particular facility. The RTL system 210 is also comprised of a listing of tag identities 215 and a listing of tag detector locations 225, wherein the tag identity 215 can be any unique coded information specified by a system administrator and each tag detector location 225 can correspond to an actual, physical location such as a building, a floor, a hallway, a room, etc. and both the tag identities 215 and the tag detector locations 225 can be stored in non-volatile memory comprising the healthcare system 200. The RTL system 210 can be designed to operate with either active or passive location tags. In the case where the system is operating with passive tags, the system includes a transceiver that periodically sends out a signal that activates circuitry in the passive tag causing it to transmit tag information (typically a tag ID) back to the system 210. In the case of active tags, each tag includes a battery to power transmitter circuitry that operates to periodically transmit a signal that includes, among other things, the identity of that tag. In operation, a tag worn by a staff member or attached to a piece of mobile medical equipment comes into range of a tag detector 220 which detects the presence and identity of the tag and transmits the tag ID and detector location ID to the RTL system 210, which then stores the then current tag location in non-volatile memory associated with the healthcare system 200 for later use.
In addition to the RTL system 210 described with reference to FIG. 2, the system 200 also comprises an event notification system (ENS) 240 similar to the system 120 described earlier with reference to FIG. 1. In addition to the functionality comprising the ENS 120, ENS 240 has proximity notification functionality 250 that operates to detect one or more appropriate staff members closest to the source of an event, to notify the one or more identified staff members of the event and then direct them to the source of the event.